MK Party founder suspends Jacob Zuma and asks IEC to remove him from its list – The Mail & Guardian

Former President Jacob Zuma. (Photo by Gallo Images/Darren Stewart)

uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party founder Jabulani Khumalo has suspended Jacob Zuma as a precautionary measure and wants the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to remove the former president from its parliamentary list.

Khumalo’s move comes despite his expulsion from the party by Zuma late last month for “lack of discipline” – and comes days before the Constitutional Court hears an appeal by the IEC against an electoral court ruling allowing Zuma to take part in the vote.

The latest drama surrounding the ANC’s latest defection began on Sunday when Khumalo – who described himself as party president – wrote to Zuma to tell him he was being suspended.

In the letter, Khumalo said Zuma had committed “several wrongdoings related to MKP’s activities”.

“These have brought the party into disrepute and created confusion among the general public and members of the MKP,” Khumalo said. “Specifically, you claimed to suspend me as party leader without following the procedures stipulated in the party’s constitution.”

Khumalo said that following Zuma’s precautionary suspension, the party would initiate disciplinary proceedings against him.

Khumalo and several other MK Party members were expelled at the end of April. Party spokesman Nhlamulo Ndhlela accused him of using the MK Party’s funds to buy expensive new vehicles.

Ndhlela also accused Khumalo of working on behalf of the ANC to undermine the MK party from within – which has been rocked by allegations of fraud in collecting signatures for its inclusion on the ballot paper.

The episode is reminiscent of the row in the ANC that saw then-secretary-general Ace Magashule suspend President Cyril Ramaphosa for suspending him.

Magashule was eventually expelled from the party.

In his letter to the IEC, Khumalo called for the “immediate removal” of Zuma “as the face of the MKP and president of the MKP”.

He accused Zuma of hijacking the party and fraudulently removing him from the party’s electoral list.

Khumalo also revealed how the MK Party came into being and what role the former head of state played in the process.

Khumalo said he registered the party with Zuma’s “political advice and guidance” and that the former president told him that its name “should be brought in line with the ANC”, whose brand is “entrenched in the public and the people”. .

Zuma had also suggested December 16 – the anniversary of the founding of the ANC’s military wing, uMkhonto weSizwe – to announce his role in the party, helping him raise more than R700,000 for registration.

“In fact, the name uMkhonto weSizwe was suggested by Mr Zuma. I was responsible for registering the MKP with the Election Commission,” Khumalo said. “It was clear at all times that Mr Zuma was not a member of the MKP but would support it in the election campaign.”

“When he announced his decision to vote and campaign for the MKP on December 16, 2023, he made it clear that he would remain a member of the ANC,” Khumalo said.

Khumalo said he dismissed rumors that Zuma wanted to “hijack the party” because he believed his relationship with the former head of state was “solid”.

But on April 23, he was called into a meeting with Zuma and members of the MK Party who were not on the interim executive board.

“Mr Zuma announced that I had been removed as president of the party and he would become president in the future,” Khumalo said.

The assembly had prepared a “fraudulent” letter to the IEC saying he would no longer be on the list and that Zuma was now president and public face of the party, he said.

Khumalo said Zuma had brought the party into disrepute and violated its constitution by pretending to remove him without trial and should be removed from the MK party list on May 29.

Khumalo also claimed that the leader of another opposition party was preparing to take over the leadership of the MK Party after the elections and that this was one of the reasons Zuma’s daughter Duduzile had “publicly disgraced my name”.

Ndhlela had not responded to calls and messages from Post & Guardian at the time of writing.